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 REPRESENTATION MATTERS As we face the biggest health pandemic of our time, it is crucial that the leadership of our health institutions are reflective of the communities they serve. Council Member Salamanca joins Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr and colleagues in government to question the selection process of a historically latino institution in the Bronx, Lincoln Hospital.
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Shame on you Governor Cuomo. What was that Curtis Sliwa called you on Inside City Hall 'King Cuomo'? It's time you abdicated your kingdom.
City Council candidate Yudelka Tapia cuts the ribbon to her new campaign office with Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr., Assemblyman Victor Pichardo, and Socrates Caba, President - Louella Hatch Democratic Club.
Thursday afternoon Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr. stopped by the new campaign office of Yudelka Tapia candidate for City Council 14th district located at 2508 Creston Avenue off Burnside Avenue to pledge his full support to candidate Yudelka Tapia. Assemblyman Victor Pichardo also stopped by to help cut the ribbon, and joined with Bronx Borough President Diaz Jr. to endorse his Female District Leader for the 14th district city council seat to be vacated by term-limited Councilman Fernando Cabrera.
The 14th Council District is mostly people of color and immigrants so candidate Yudelka Tapia said she wants to make sure that COVID recovery plans put working families. immigrants, and people of color first.
Having been a parent leader in School District 10 Yudelka Tapia wants to get schools their fair share and bring gifted and talented programs to more Bronx schools.
Take on greedy landlords to deliver the affordable housing the 14th council district needs, to fix the broken criminal justice system, and support locally owned small businesses.
Below - BP Diaz Jr. and Assemblyman Pichardo each hold up one of candidates Tapia's arms in a sign of a victory for the June Democratic primary.
Van Nest Neighborhood Alliance is inviting you to a scheduled Zoom meeting.
VNNA MARCH MONTHLY ZOOM MEETING
Candidates Forum for City Council District 15
Time: March 8, 2021 7:00 PM Eastern Time (US and Canada)
Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/
Meeting ID: 259 251 0029
Passcode: 2021
Dial in: 1 929 205 6099 US (New York)
Mayor Bill de Blasio today released the following statement regarding recent allegations against Governor Cuomo:
“New Yorkers have seen detailed, documented accounts of sexual harassment, multiple instances of intimidation, and the admitted withholding of information on the deaths of over 15,000 people.
Questions of this magnitude cannot hang over the heads of New Yorkers as we fight off a pandemic and economic crisis. It’s clear what must now take place.
The State legislature must immediately revoke the Governor’s emergency powers that overrule local control. In addition, two fully independent investigations must be held immediately into the deaths at nursing homes and the disturbing personal misconduct allegations.
Precedence shows that investigations of the Governor must be completely independent of his office. The investigation into nursing home deaths must be free to examine campaign contributions from the nursing home industry. And the investigation into sexual misconduct must be led by someone fully independent of the governor, not the former business partner of the Governor’s top advisor.
2021 must be a year of progress and recovery. These efforts for transparency must be met.”
"Ms. Bennett was a hardworking and valued member of our team during COVID. She has every right to speak out.
"When she came to me and opened up about being a sexual assault survivor and how it shaped her and her ongoing efforts to create an organization that empowered her voice to help other survivors, I tried to be supportive and helpful. Ms. Bennett's initial impression was right: I was trying to be a mentor to her. I never made advances toward Ms. Bennett nor did I ever intend to act in any way that was inappropriate. The last thing I would ever have wanted was to make her feel any of the things that are being reported.
"This situation cannot and should not be resolved in the press; I believe the best way to get to the truth is through a full and thorough outside review and I am directing all state employees to comply with that effort. I ask all New Yorkers to await the findings of the review so that they know the facts before making any judgements. I will have no further comment until the review has concluded."
STATEMENT FROM BETH GARVEY, SPECIAL COUNSEL AND SENIOR ADVISOR TO THE GOVERNOR
"Ms. Bennett's concerns were treated with sensitivity and respect and in accordance with applicable law and policy.
"The matter was promptly escalated to special counsel. Ms. Bennett received the transfer she requested to a position in which she had expressed a long-standing interest, and was thoroughly debriefed on the facts which did not include a claim of physical contact or inappropriate sexual conduct. She was consulted regarding the resolution, and expressed satisfaction and appreciation for the way in which it was handled.
"The determination reached based on the information Ms Bennett provided was that no further action was required which was consistent with Ms Bennett's wishes.
"Although in no way required by law, the Governor has requested an independent review and all staff will cooperate in that endeavor. Former Federal Judge Barbara Jones will lead the review."
Perpetuate Same Scheme Blocked by OAG’s Prior Suit and Victory
New York Attorney General Letitia James has won another major victory to protect small business owners in New York and across the country from predatory and deceptive business practices. A decision and order, issued Friday afternoon, granted a petition filed by Attorney General James last November, which sought to — among other things — permanently block NLS Equipment Finance LLC; Leasing Expenses Company, LLC; and a number of related entities and individuals from engaging in fraudulent practices and enforcing fraudulent equipment leases that were rescinded pursuant to a June 2020 court order in an earlier proceeding brought by the Office of the Attorney General (OAG). Since 1991, and until its fraudulent scheme was halted by the OAG’s earlier proceeding, Northern Leasing deceptively and illegally induced small businesses into abusive and overpriced financing leases for inexpensive credit card processing equipment.
“This decision demonstrates that efforts to evade the rule of law will not be tolerated and that we will continue to hold fraudulent businesses’ feet to the fire, even after a victory,” said Attorney General James. “Despite being ordered to shut down last year, Northern Leasing and the individuals behind it attempted to continue their fraudulent practices, but this order sends a clear message that creating new corporate entities to continue deceptive and illegal practices that have been outlawed will never be an acceptable practice. Much-needed money will now be put back into the pockets of struggling small business owners around the country, many of which continue to suffer from the impacts of the COVID-19 public health crisis.”
In the earlier proceeding, the OAG alleged that Northern Leasing Systems, Inc. (Northern Leasing), its affiliated companies, and its principal, Jay Cohen, engaged in fraudulent conduct by targeting small, family-owned businesses — such as flower shops, hair salons, automotive repair shops, bodegas, delis, restaurants, and bars — and trapped them into overpriced, never-ending lease agreements for credit card processing equipment. The lawsuit further alleged that Northern Leasing abused the judicial process by suing to collect on these leases in New York City Civil Court. Deputy Chief Administrative Judge George J. Silver — as a co-petitioner in the proceeding — sought to vacate default judgments obtained by fraud, deception, or other improper means.
The June 2020 New York County State Supreme Court ruling found that the OAG proved that Northern Leasing engaged in fraudulent and illegal conduct, including finding that Northern Leasing’s method of procuring its lease agreements was deceptive and “created an enterprise conducive to fraud.” The court granted sweeping relief, including the rescission of hundreds of thousands of leases and restitution to defrauded merchants. Additionally, the court ordered a permanent injunction against Northern Leasing and the other entities from conducting the business of equipment finance leasing or the collection of debts under equipment finance leases, and blocked them all from purchasing, financing, transferring, servicing, or enforcing of equipment finance leases. That decision was recently affirmed by the New York State Appellate Division of the Supreme Court, First Department.
In November 2020, the OAG brought forward another, separate proceeding after discovering that Northern Leasing’s owners and officers had created two new entities — NLS Equipment Finance and Leasing Expenses Company — to continue defrauding small businesses using the same scheme barred by the court in the prior litigation, as well as to continue collecting on leases rescinded by the June 2020 court order.
The companies found liable by this ruling — also issued by the New York County State Supreme Court — were operated by former Northern Leasing Chief Financial Officer Ariel Schachter and former Northern Leasing officer Sara Krieger, and were owned by trusts that benefited the families of Northern Leasing’s owners, Jay Cohen and Leonard Mezei. The court found that these companies had “risen on [Northern Leasing's] ashes” in an earlier December ruling that granted a temporary restraining order barring them from collecting on any equipment leases.
In Friday's decision and order, the court found that the different entities’ efforts to differentiate their business operations from those of Northern Leasing Systems did not “negate their liability” and — if allowed to prevail — “would all but obliterate the spirit and purpose” of the June order granted by Justice Lucy Billings. The court ordered Northern Leasing and the other entities to disgorge any funds acquired as a result of their fraudulent practices and to make restitution to victims of their scheme.
The parties named in this proceeding include Leasing Expenses Company LLC; NLS Equipment Finance LLC; Leonard Mezei; Ariel Schacter; Sara Krieger; Jay Cohen; a Jay Cohen Family Trust; Fieldston Capital LLC; and JS Ventures Holding LLC.
150K Doses of COVID Vaccine Administered in 24 Hours
As of 1PM today, New York's Health Care Distribution Sites Have Administered 90% of First Doses
Vaccine Dashboard Will Update Daily to Provide Updates on the State's Vaccine Program; Go to ny.gov/vaccinetracker; Dashboard Now Includes Demographic Data
Governor Cuomo announced today 1,554,103 New Yorkers are now fully vaccinated with a second dose. Additionally, 157,046 doses of COVID-19 vaccine have been administered in the last 24 hours. As of 1:00 PM today, New York's health care distribution sites have administered 90 percent of first doses so far delivered. The week 11 allocation from the federal government is in the process of being delivered to providers for administration.
"New York's vast distribution network has now immunized over 1.5 million New Yorkers which is really great news. We're working hard to keep up that momentum and get shots in arms of the entire eligible population, with special attention to Black, Hispanic and poor communities that have been among the hardest hit by COVID," Governor Cuomo said. "We've already seen a 70 percent increase in vaccine supply from the federal government. We hope that number will only continue to increase but it will take time and we must not get complacent or cocky about COVID. I urge all New Yorkers to remain vigilant and keep taking steps we know work to protect themselves and others: wear a mask, social distance, avoid large gatherings."
Approximately 10 million New Yorkers are currently eligible to receive the vaccine. New York's vast distribution network and large population of eligible individuals still far exceed the supply coming from the federal government. Due to limited supply, New Yorkers are encouraged to remain patient and are advised not to show up at vaccination sites without an appointment.
The 'Am I Eligible' screening tool has been updated for individuals with comorbidities and underlying conditions with new appointments released on a rolling basis over the next weeks. New Yorkers can use the following to show they are eligible:
Vaccination program numbers below are for doses distributed and delivered to New York for the state's vaccination program, and do not include those reserved for the federal government's Long Term Care Facility program. A breakdown of the data based on numbers reported to New York State as of 1:00 PM today is as follows. Beginning week 9, allocation totals are inclusive of some excess vaccine doses that have been reallocated from the federal Long Term Care Facility program. The allocation totals below include 66 percent of the week 11 allocation which will finish being distributed to New York provider sites on Sunday.
STATEWIDE BREAKDOWN
First Doses Received - 3,075,220
First Doses Administered - 2,773,365; 90%
Total Doses Received - 4,996,800
Total Doses Administered - 4,327,468
